Puzzle Pieces
by elitemassacre6
Summary: This is a collection of one shots and drabbles that together, build an image of Rachel and Santana's life together. Not in chronological order unless otherwise specified.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So... surprisingly enough, I wrote this because I was listening to Beyonce's Lay Up Under Me. And so there's this. I realized as I wrote this that I'd pretty much started in the middle of Santana and Rachel's story here. So what I did was start another fic...kind of. Basically, these will be drabble's or one shots that I'll (try to) keep between 100-1000 words. They'll be in no specific order unless I specify otherwise. Umm..think that's all, enjoy.

Her eyes were the first thing Santana poured her attention into, those ever-expressive orbs that so often captivated her. They smiled along with Rachel's perfect lips, calling the singer over to her without words leaving the talented performer's mouth. As illegitimate and unfounded as the fear has been, it feel good to realize that her girlfriend still fit as perfectly against her body as she always had. She leaned down, breathing in that familiar scent of chai and vanilla as Rachel sighed against her neck.

"I love you." They both whispered at the same time. They kissed softly, finally noticing afterwards the large group of paparazzi surrounding them. Rachel led them through the vultures, pulling her girlfriend's black luggage behind her. It was moments like this when they both, for a few minutes,allowed themselves to wish they didn't have the fame they worked so hard for. Moments like the one just shared between them were best when private.

The ride home is silent, their communication purely unspoken, physical in its nature. Held hands, kissed knuckles and lips. Santana can't help but bury her hands in the hair she loves so much. Her girlfriend does complain about the disruption of her carefully-scultped curls, but quiets down in anticipation when the singer promises that she has every intention of completely destroying them when they arrive home. It's been too long since they've been able to touch each other that way, and more than anything, Rachel just misses the way Santana clings to her in the aftermath of their shared bliss.

Their voices fill the house for hours, simple sounds at first, loudly screamed names and gutteral moans, Rachel's familiar whimpers that she only let's herself utter when Santana is between her legs. Afterwards it's all loud laughs and stories of the friends the taller woman missed dearly, newer tales of the too-long tour that took her away from everything that mattered.

Rachel is stubborn when her girlfriend tells her that she refused the offer to go on another tour.

"This is what you wanted. You wanted to be famous, to make music that you love, that your fans would love. The tours are an important part of that, you should go...it's, it's only for two months and I'll be okay if you go, San. Don't turn it down on my account." Santana looked up at the ceiling, breathing out heavily before her dark eyes fell to lock onto Rachel's clear, deep, brown.

"I know you always say i'm selfless, but I'm gonna prove you wrong here, baby. I said no for me. Because I can't bear ever being away from you for that long again. I love you, shorty, and I refuse to let us turn into the type of couple who barely get to see each other because of our careers. I love you, and you love me, and I just want us to be all pezberry for a while, and then maybe I'll think about it."

"Okay." Rachel shrugs and leans over their take-out, loving Santana's hands in her ruined hair. Being them again after _months_ apart sounded like a perfect idea.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wrote this after listening to Leon Thomas III's Like Clay on repeat for a while. as a bit of a set so you'll know what's happened, Rachel comes to school in that black dress, and the idiots all get together and essentially ambush her with about ten slushies. i hate them. anyway, enjoy.

"Berry, stop! Fuck- stop, okay Rachel!" Santana pushed into the bathroom behind the uncommonly angry and commonly slushy covered girl, already reaching over to rip away and then wet a handful of paper towels. She reached forward to wipe away the icy blue from chilly skin, bottom lip between her teeth. Rachel swatted her away, propping her hands on her hips when two Cheerios appeared from a single stall. She waited for the insult to come, for Santana to rush to make up some excuse as to why she'd been attempting to assist her. Instead, the latina frowned and looked over at the star's clear and unfortunately empty slushy kit before turning back to the two girls who both looked rather sad over the situation they saw before them.

"Hey, will you guys head to the locker room and bring back something for Rae to wear? Anything clean you can find should be good." The girls nodded, the tall blonde reaching over to squeeze Rachel's hand in apology for what they all knew people in her social group had done. They disappeared after, and once the door closed, Santana turned back to trying to cleaning blue raspberry slushy away from Rachel's usually perfect skin.

"I believe I asked you not to touch me, Santana Lopez. Please remove your hands from my person. I do admit i'm rather confused. Why didn't those girl's just laugh at me...why aren't you laughing at me. And why are you trying to help? Stop touching me! I don't understand. It was people like you who did this to me. Shouldn't you be out there with them, commiserating over the reinforcement of social law and order? About how you all lowered the hideous Rachel Berry back down into her place?" Santana's eyes softened even more, and Rachel caught herself staring into those dark pools. They captivated her just as well as the rest of the latina next to her did. If only she could free herself.

"No, listen. Those...people...out there aren't people like me, okay. They're not who I thought they'd be and I guess I'm not who they think I am. I thought being around them would make me as happy as they pretend to be...but I'm nothing like them, and neither are Isabel and Cadie. Please just... let me help you, okay. They'll be back with a change of clothes soon and it'll be better if we have you all cleaned up by then so you can change and get to class. I know you don't like to be late. And you should know that you are the furthest thing from hideous I've ever seen okay. You're like...you - you _aren't_ hideous Rachel." The performer narrowed her eyes at the compliments, trying harder than she'd had to before to keep herself from starting to believe them. It wasn't true, and believing it, even from Santana, was only going to hurt her in the end. She allowed the other girl to help her clean up, sighing in relief when the other two girls walked back into the bathroom with clothes in their hands.

"Sorry it took us so long, we ran into coach and she kind of insisted on talking to us before she gave us this stuff for you, Rachel." Isabel said, handing over to Santana what looked to Rachel's surely mistaken eyes to be a Cheerios uniform and jacket with the name Berry on the back.

"She always did say she wanted you on the squad. Not sure if that's what this is about, but I know none of those idiots are dumb enough to even think about attacking someone wearing one of these. What you think, Rae. 's up to you."

"Ok. I'll wear it, I think it may be advisable if I spoke with Coach Sylvester at the nearest opportunity to see how many strings are attached to this 'favor'" Rachel said, reappearing from the stall dressed in the white and red. She pulled her hair up into a tight pony adjusting her posture and pulling her shoulders back before smirking a little at Cadie. She felt like she often thought Santana often looked. Visually strong, but broken on the inside.

"Yes. I officially vote for that being permanent." The blonde squealed excitedly.

Santana leaned over, her lips close to Rachel's ear.

"You looked gorgeous in your dress today, and you look really great in that, but you should know that I don't think you need anything but you as _you_ to be beautiful, Rachel.


	3. Chapter 3

It was so redundant, and she felt so stupid all over again, the way she couldn't ever seem to step out of her old behaviors But Brady was tall, handsome, sweet, and so nice to her. She could see the differences, but it felt like the same situation, the way she sort of gave in and let herself fall into something with the only guy who was nice to her, the only guy who complimented her, showed her any kind of positive attention.

She wasn't expecting the knock at the door or the person on the other side of the it. Santana looked up at her from the floor, those captivatingly dark eyes penetrating the haze that had surrounded her since she'd come to New York.

"...Tana?" She could hear Brody standing up behind her, could see dark brows furrowing above dangerous eyes. Rachel turned around, not really conscious of what she was saying, but in less than a minute he was walking out of the door past an unmoving Santana.

"I'm sorry...I didn't, I didn't know you would be in the middle of something..."

"No...we were, I just...what are you doing here, Tana?"

"I left Louisville ..You were kissing him? I remember what your lips look like when you've been kissed. How they'd be swollen and pouty." Rachel wished she wasn't so good at recognizing the the emotions in Santana's voice, at recognizing the hurt.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been." Santana frowned as she walked into the apartment, dropping her bag by the door as she closed it behind her.

"I get it, Rae. It's New York, and he's probably nice to you. Remember how I told you i'd been on the waiting list for NYU and they were full? They had a couple of really quick dropouts and they gave me a call and said that If I thought I could catch up with classes I was welcome to come out. So I did. Because you're here, and because I never belonged in Louisville when you were here." The latina pulled off her shoes and stretched long and high to relieve her tired muscles. The J train ride over had been long and she was beyond tired. She walked into the kitchen and peeked inside the pans, eyes narrowing over the scorched duck breast.

"You were trying to cook for him? Cooking meat for him?"

"I didn't want to seem like the type of vegan who tried to convert everyone around them." Santana shook her head, serving herself some of the pasta that Rachel had obviously made for herself.

"Baby, your food is good, and the fact that you're vegan is something to love about you, not something to change unless that's what _you_ want. l missed you." Rachel walked forward, pulling the bowl out of soft hands and placing it on the counter before falling into awaiting arms.

"I missed you too." Santana brushed back Rachel's long gorgeous hair as she hugged her closer, eyes closed.

"You look different. Kurt?"

"Yea. Do you like it?" The latina pulled her girl closer, tickling her fingers at the smooth stretch of skin at the small of Rachel's back.

"I like it. Especcially if you do. But you were just as beautiful before, and you don't _need _anything to make you so. You were the most beautiful girl I had ever known before. Now you're just the most beautiful woman I know."

"Are you insinuating that my choice of dress was juvenile?" Rachel threw on her best appalled face and looked into dark eyes.

"Yea."

"Hey! I take offense to that." Rachel huffed, her hands falling from her hips to the other woman as she was pulled closer

"But it was you, and I love that. I love _you_, Rae." Rachel leaned against the latina, breathing in a scent she had missed dearly.

"I love you too." She had fought letting those words leave her lips for too long, for years. The allure of the sure thing that had been Finn and that was now Brady didn't make her feel as safe as it used to, when she'd been so afraid of how much she felt for a certain Latina that she couldn't say it.

"Yea?"

"Yea."


	4. Chapter 4

She can't help but stare at her ballet class's new arrival, at the smooth looking skin of tan thighs and muscular-looking calves. Her eyes travel up over Santana's hips and up further, further, her eyes focusing on an attention drawing collarbone. The bun that sits low at the nape of the taller girl's neck is something Rachel's never seen, and she wishes she could just pull her eyes away. That it didn't matter that it makes the Latina's neck stand out, that somehow, it draws the little performer's attention up to dark eyes that are focused on her own. Pulling her lip between her teeth, Rachel tries to smile away her nervousness. When Santana returns the small but much-desired gesture, the shorter of the two breathes deep and turns back to the glass wall, stretching and failing to keep her eyes away as the other brunette does the same.

An hour and a half later, the two girls are left alone in the fairly large room, packing away their things unnecessarily slowly.

"I uh...I bought you a bottle of water." The smaller dancer turns, wide smile curving her features.

"Thank you so much. I'm afraid I forgot to bring my own today in my haste to leave the house in time to be early." They both silently sip from their bottles, trying and failing to avoid getting caught watching each other.

"It's nothing, anytime."

"I didn't know you were a dancer Santana. You're quite skillful. It's a pleasure to watch you...wait...I didn't...You're very good." The latina grinned at the mix up, finishing her bottle and dropping it in the recycle container.

"Yea um...Ballet since I was four, hip hop since nine. I started getting into contemporary three years ago. Still kind of a beginner compared to you, I know." Rachel shook her head as her instinct to comfort with touch exhibited itself via her hand on a toned bicep.

"That's actually quite amazing. most dancers I know through the classes they teach here are good or great in one field, not exceptional in three. It's rare."

"Who says I'm exceptional, shorty? You've seen me dance before this?" Rachel lets the comment on her height pass. It sounded not like an insult but a term of endearment to her well-trained ears. Combined with the kind smirk on pouty lips, it brought up her brightest smile.

"I practice afterschool in the choir room quite often. Sometimes, I prefer the auditorium. If I close my eyes it's like i'm in New York on a stage, baring my soul to an audience. Occasionally, I'll arrive there and someone else will be there. Someone like you, dancing across the stage, baring your own soul. I always try to give you privacy, but you're so beauti- your dancing... is so beautiful, I end up staying. Exceptional is the perfect word, Santana."

"I think you're beautiful too, Rae."


	5. Chapter 5

I wrote this while obviously listening to The Fray's "Rainy Zurich" . Don't know the song? listen to it sometime. From the album Scars and Stories.

"Are you awake? Rachel asked, stretching her limbs against the those tangled among her own in a futile attempt to lure her tired body to sleep.

"No. Couldn't. You know how it is with me, I never can. But what about you. why aren't you asleep?" Santana asked, spreading her fingers along the smooth curve of Rachel's hip.

"I'm trying, but I can't. I just..." pushing dark locks behind Rachel's ear, the tired Latina licked her lips and sighed with affection.

"What is it, shorty? Tell me."

"I can't let go of the fear that I'll wake up alone and everything you've worked for...we've worked for. Will go to waste. I don't want that, and I you don't either. So just - just stay here with me. Let me wake up like this." Santana doesn't ask her girlfriend how either of them will fall asleep in the first place, just breathes deep as the idea for a song to sing creeps into her exhausted mind. Memories of the two of them singing to each other over the phone every night making her smile subtly."

"In midair and floating off to space, I'm moving in, your hair is falling all around my face: like a parachute, I'm breathing in, you're breathing out the same, we give and take. And let the water fall on the flame, it's not burning out." They each inched forward slowly, connecting two sets of plush lips and tucking closer to each other in the warmth that surrounded them.

"Good night."


End file.
